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Topic: Steel plate (Read 83565 times)

Communist - nice looking pie. I wouldn't expect that much bottom char at 335, but I guess it speaks to the conductivity of steel. Just to be sure, 335 was after the 45 second broil, or before? I'm guessing it was before the broil and, if so, that's a nice trick. It kind of superheats the surface w/o impacting all the thermal mass. It would seem to me that you would get some char but maybe not too much. Great trick.

Everyone's idea of a perfect pie is a little different. I'm good with the top & the bottom in these photos, but I'd like to see a little spotting on the rim. Thanks for sharing.

Chau - love that post above. Lots of good information and it is consistent with my (comparatively small) results. I'm usually doing a 5 minute pie these days to get that good bottom crisp, but I've got some "head room" on the upper heating element (burner) so it's a good challenge to see if I can get closer to 4 minutes.

Thanks Bill and Dave. Yes, Dave it is 335 on the preheat, then I put the broiler on HI for 40 seconds, and then the surface of the steel can hit over 600. I agree with the variability of the perfect pie, and the spotting of the rim issue. Check out my pie on page three of this thread. Is that what your preference is? I like it too, but am afraid that too much broiler action may brown my cheese, even though I use Grande. And I seem to remember Scott123 mentioning his perfect NY pie to be slightly pale on top. And if it good for Scott, it is good for me! Mark

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scott123

Alexi, thanks for performing that experiment. That's a huge help. I think your broiler works a little differently than mine, but it still proves that 1/2" steel can definitely produce a Neapolitan bake time.

Are you using the broiler during the bake? I know, in the past, you've talked about the convection feature, but are you broiling as well? If you need to increase the top to bottom heat ratio, just move the pizza closer to the broiler. With close proximity (less than 4"), you should be able to pre-heat the steel to around 600 and get the same kind of 2ish minute results you're getting with cordierite, plus... you should be able to cut your pre-heat times in half.

Mark, nice pizza. I'm really surprised that 40 seconds of broiling would pump that much heat into the steel. What was the bake time?

If I had to choose between this pie and page 3, I'd go with page 3 Not really because of the color or the charring- both look fantastic, but more because of the thickness factor. I gravitate towards a much smaller rim.

The pizza that I grew up with was soft/not crispy and, when I say, pale, I mean really pale- almost pure white, with a few brown specs on top. Not char, but not golden brown. The bottom would have a little char, but not the top.

Thanks for the correction Mark. You had my full attention showing those results with a 335F number . Yep, I like the looks of the pie on page 3 better. For me, the challenge is to get the bottom spotting, rim blisters, and melted cheese w/o brown spots all on the same pie. (And I forgot to mention the airy crumb...)

Just out of curiosity, how long does it take you to get the 1/2" steel plate to 535F?

Just out of curiosity, how long does it take you to get the 1/2" steel plate to 535F?

Dave

Dave, I do not have an accurate preheat time. It has been a nasty winter in NE Pennsylvania, and I have not had to worry about preheat time so I have been overkilling the preheat on the steel with one hour preheat. I will trim that down now that spring has arrived, and will post numbers in the future. Mark

Alexi, thanks for performing that experiment. That's a huge help. I think your broiler works a little differently than mine, but it still proves that 1/2" steel can definitely produce a Neapolitan bake time.

Are you using the broiler during the bake? I know, in the past, you've talked about the convection feature, but are you broiling as well? If you need to increase the top to bottom heat ratio, just move the pizza closer to the broiler. With close proximity (less than 4"), you should be able to pre-heat the steel to around 600 and get the same kind of 2ish minute results you're getting with cordierite, plus... you should be able to cut your pre-heat times in half.

My pleasure Scott.

For the 70 second pie the steel was on the top rack, less than 3" from the broiler. I did not use convection for that bake just Maxi-broil. (Convection was against the proscribed rules!)

In general I use a convection broil setting to cook which combines air circulation with top heat.

I favor a 3-4 minute bake for textural reasons.

I would interested to see your take on cooking on the steel. I think the way the dough behaves on such an efficient surface might suprise you. there is a point at which a cooking surface is not efficiednt enough and a point at which it becomes too efficient. I think steel probably crosses this second line. There was no way of knowing this prospectively without experiments. I can tell you there is a wierd floppiness to steel cooked pies.

There's a reason most ovens have a porous stone like floor or deck I guess.

Hi, I have constructed a wood fired 1/2" steel plate cooking surface with cover that I am going to try a pizza on soon. This is an interesting thread as I was just searching to see if steel was a good surface for pizza. At this point I don't have any temps. to relate but I'm going to give it its maiden voyage this coming weekend. I will report my results soon. Jefe

I purchased a steel plate from a local steel distributor and went to town. I started by doing some heating tests on it to arrive at the hottest and fastest method (serendipitously, they're one in the same): a combination of broiler and convection.

Then I made a quick Neapolitan pie using 10% of a 100% hydration starter I've been keeping for about a year. The result was hands down the best home oven pizza I have ever eaten. By orders of magnitude. The only difference was the use of the steel plate instead of a stone!

Next time I'll try bringing it closer to the broiler and see if I can get those elusive leopard spots!

If you don't mind me asking, what temperature did you throw the pie on the steel plate? From you graph, it looks like 20-30 minutes using both convection bake and broil. Also, is your steel plate full rack size? I wonder if it makes sense to use a 1/2" steel plate more pizza-sized and use a simple trapezoid-shaped stand under it. The thinking is that the cook time would be about the same but the weight and warm up time could be better.

If you don't mind me asking, what temperature did you throw the pie on the steel plate? From you graph, it looks like 20-30 minutes using both convection bake and broil. Also, is your steel plate full rack size? I wonder if it makes sense to use a 1/2" steel plate more pizza-sized and use a simple trapezoid-shaped stand under it. The thinking is that the cook time would be about the same but the weight and warm up time could be better.

Dave

Dave - Sorry for the confusion. Those temps were all taken without actually putting a pizza on. When it came time to actually fire the pizza, I did it when the center of the plate hit 600 degrees, about 30 minutes in, which seems to be is the max my oven will get.

The plate extends full from the back to the front of the oven, with about two inches of clearance on either side. I could use a smaller plate, sure, but a larger one is going to be able to hold in more heat, and "pizza size" can range by more than a foot depending on the pie.

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-Dan

GChat: DanCole42

MORBO: The challenger's ugly food has shown us that even hideous things can be sweet on the inside.

Hey guys, been trying to source a place to purchase a steel plate from but I'm having a hard time due to the fact I live in Ohio and there are a bunch of big steel mills around and I don't think they service public customers? I can't figure out how to search for a place that services regular customers rather then just catering to big businesses?

Baking on steel with 4 to 8 pies every week for almost a year. Temp tonight at 520 infrared reading on steel. Broiler for 50 seconds at the start. Found use for idled fibrament stone - I cook on steel for 3 minutes, then slide to fibrament for 1 to 2 minutes. My wife and I are liking the crispy crust this gives at 5 minutes versus 4 minutes. The thermal mass helps with temp stability, I am able to crank out 8 pies for parties without dropping temps too much. I have been putting down cheese, then tomato, then a dusting of romano, and we are all very happy with results. Moved up to 16 inch pies and loving 'em Mark

scott123

Mark, if you like the crispiness of a slightly longer bake, there's really no reason to mess around with the fibrament- just lower the pre-heat temp on the steel a bit and leave the pie in longer- it will give you the same texture on the undercrust.